Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-11-24


Their of hers. | stood before her, and for a
while she took no notice of me, but kent
on playing and singing little, All very
sweet music it was. At last she looked up
i and smiled
$50 thou art come, she said. Thought
that perchance thou hati5t gone about the
| Queen Nyleptha's business. Thou art ever
on her business and | doubt not good
servant and a true
40 this I merely bowel md said 1 was
there to receive the On : word
All, yes, I would tai tn thee, but
be thou seated. | cannn L my eek so
| high and she made room for me beside
.eron the couch, nl3cing herself with her
pack against tne end, SO as TO have view
OF NJ face
make myself equal with the Queen
81 said be seated was her answer; so
| sat down, and she set to work to look at
me with those dark eyes Of hers, till | be-
gan to feel as though | were being mes
merized There she sat, ike an incarnate
spirit of beauty. hardly talking at all, and
when she did, very low but all the while
| looking at me. There was a white flower
| in her black hair, and tried to keep nv
( eyes on it and count the petals; but iG was
no use. At last, whether it was her gaze.
| or the perfume on her hair or what Idon't
| know, but | was uncOmmonly near to be-
| ing altogether overwhelmed and dropping
| off into a sort of faint, when she began to
rouse herself
.'Tncnbu,' she said. still looking at me,
| lowest thou pOwerY
| Il replied that [ supposed that all men
| loved power of one sort or another.
"'Thou shalt have it, she said. Lowest
! thou wealth.
81 said liked wealth forwhat it brought.
"'ThOu shalt have it, she said. And
| lowest thou beauty?
ITO this | replied that I was very fond
| of statuary and architecture, at which she
| froWned, and there was pause. By this
| time my nerves were on such a stretch
| that | was shaking like q leaf. [ knew
| that something awful was going to hap
| pen, but she held me under kind of spell,
and / could not help myself.
'S'Incubu,' she said at length, 'wouldst
| thou be q kingg
81 really don't know what answered to
this, but / Stammered out something or
other. and reSOlute1y shut my eyes: for ]
| saw Ter leaning towaf-s me, ana could
not bear her gaze and the power of her
beauty Nearer and nearer came the faint,
| sweet odor of her perfGmed hair, until |
could feel her breath upon my face. Then
| opened my eyes TO see what she was do
ing, and found that her own were within
three inches OF them, and shining glorious
ly, like stars
/ my word" | interposed here. ''just
fancy, if Nyleptha had come round the
corner, what times there would have beenl
they do in the plays"
mo. didn't" answered the wretched
Curtis with a grUan. Don't laugh at me,
[ was thrown quite off my balance, and SO
would any man have been who was sud
denly put at the mercy Of such an imperi-
ally lovely creature. don't know wnat |
did, and | don't know how long it lasted;
but luckily one of the SentrieS outside the
door let fall his spear, and the rattle of tie
steel against the pavement brought me to
my senses, and | freed myself from her
and got on to my legs again, and reason
and recollection came back to me.
"'Oh, S0ralS,' | said, pray do not do that
sort of thing, you see | had not time to
pick and choose my Words because you
are putting us both in an awkward posi-
tiOn. | am going to marry your sister Ny
leptha, Sorais, and | love her.
Next moment it struck me that / had
said an awful thing, and | looked Gp to see
the results. When [ spoke, SoraiS' face
was hidden in the cushions, and as my
words reached her she slowly raised it, and
| sshrank back dismayed. 1t was ashy
white, and her eyes were flaming. She
got on to her feet and seemed to be choS-
ing; but the awful thing was that she was
so quiet about it all. Once she looked at
side-table, on which lay dagger, and from
it to me, as though she Thought of killing
me; but she did net take it up. At Last
she spoke one word, and one only:
"tGOp
''And I went, and glad enough I was to
get out of it; and here [ am. Now tell me,
what is to be done?"
| shook my head, for the affair was in
deed serious. AS one of.the poets says,
He'll has no fury like woman scorned.
especially if the woman is a queen and
Sorais: and indeed / feared the very worst,
including imminent danger to ourselves
''Nyleptha must be told of all this at
once" | said, "and perhaps I had better
tell her, she might receive your account
with suspicion
''Who is captain of her guard to-night?n
"Good"
every we'll. then, there will be no chance
of her being got at Don't look surprised.
don't think that her sweet sister would
stick at that. | suppose one must tell Good
Of what has happened"
ooh, [ don't know said Sir Henry. ''It
would hurt his feelings, poor fellowl You
see, he takes a lively personal interest in
Sorais.n
"That's true; and, after all, perhaps there.
is no need to tell him. He will find out
the truth soon enough. Now, you mark
my words, Sorais will throw in her lot
with Nasta, who is sulking up in the north
there, and there will be such war as has
not been seen in Zu-VendiS for centuries.
Look therep' and [ pointed to two Court
messengers, who were speeding away from
the door of Sorais' private apartments
Now follow me-" and | ran up stairway
into an outlook tower that rose from the
roof of our quarters, taking the spyglass
with me, and looked out over the palace
wall. The first thing we saw was one of
the messengers speeding towards the Tenn
pie, bearing, without any doubt, the
Queens word to the High Priest AEON; but
for the other / searched in vain. Present
" however, / spied a horseman riding
furiously through the northern gate of the
city, and in him I recognized the other
messen ger.
"Ahr' said, "Sorais is a woman of spirit.
She is acting at once, and will strike quick
and hard You have insulted her, my boy,
and the blood will flow in rivers before the
stain is washed away, and yours with it.
if she can get hold of you. Well, Pm off
to Nyleptha. Just you stop where you are,
old, fellow, and try to get your nerves
STRAIGHT again. You'll need them all,
can tell YOU unless Ihave observed human
nature in the rough for fifty years for moth
ing" And off | went accordingly
I gained audience of the Queen without
trouble She was expecting Curtis, and
was not best pleased to see my mahogany
colored face instead.
SIS there aught wrong with my lord, Ma
cumazahn, that he waits not upon me?
Cav Is he sick St